Machine for filling cans



Nov. 14, 1944. H. D. AYARS 2,362,793

MACHINE FOR FILLING CANS Filed Jan. 4, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 14,1944. H. D. AYARS 2,362,793

MACHINE FOR FILLING CANS Filed Jan. 4, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 14,1944. H. D. AYAR-s mcxmm FOR FILLING CANS Filed Jan. 4, 1943 7Sheehs-Sheet s Nov. 14, 1944. H. D. AYARS MACHINE FOR FILLING CANS FiledJan. 4, 1943 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 14, 1944. H. D. AYARS 2,362,793

MACHINE FOR FILLING CANS Filed Jan. 4, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 14,1944. H. D. AYARs ,7

MACHINE FOR FILLING CANS Filed Jan. 4, 1943 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 (la a 1"\\'{'J" 1 i r is 4.4 46 i 46 Nov. 14, 1944. H. D. AYARS 2,362,793

IAGHINE FOR FILLING CANS Filed Jan. 4, 1943 7 Sheds-Sheet 7 3% mpwlwPatented Nov. 14, 1944 mom son FILLING CANS Barry D. Ayers,Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 4, 1943, Serial No.471,272

Claims.

inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in a machine for fillingcans, and more particularly to a machine provided with measuring pocketsfor determining the quantity of liquid product discharged into a can.

An object of the invention i to provide a control valve for themeasuring pocket of the fillin machine which is opened by the can placedbeneath the measuring pocket, which control means includes a membercontacting with the valve which is positioned by an actuating cam whichpositively insures the movements of the valve to full open position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve controlmechanism 01' the above typ wherein the valve is opened through contactwith a cam rail shiftable to operative position by a can placed beneaththe measuring pocket.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a controlmechanism including a rotating cam so disposed as to contact with thecam rail for shifting the same into operative position, which campositively holds said cam rail in its operative position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a means forreturning the actuating cam to its initial set position, provided no canis placed beneath the measuring pocket to receive the liquid product,thus permitting the cam rail to shift to inoperative position.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part behereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view through a portion of a can filling machine showingthe measuring pocket, the can to be filled and the control valve forcontrolling the discharge of the liquid product from the measuringpocket into the can, the valve being shown in open position.

Fig. 1a is a detail showing the connection between the telescopingsections of the measuring pocket on an enlarged scale.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail in vertical section of the control valvefor controlling the discharge of the liquid product into the can, thevalve being in closed position.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, also showingthe cam rail which contacts with the valve for rotating the same to openposition. v v

Figure 4 is a plan view of a portion of a filling machine and showingthe means for shifting the cam rail into position for opening the valvewhen there is a can placed beneath the measuring pocket to be filled.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail of the valve control means in positionfor contacting with the valve for opening the same, also showing thevalve moved to open position by the cam rail.

Figure 6 is a side view of the means controlled by the cam for shiftingthe cam rail into operative position.

Figure 7 is a detail showing the cam for shifting the cam rail, said camrail being shown in full lines in operative position and in dotted linesin inoperative position.

Figure 8 is a view showing in plan the means for moving the valve to apartially closed position so that the final filling oi the can isaccomplished by dribble streams.

Figure 9 is a plan view showing more or less diagrammatically the meansfor closing the valve.

The can filling machine embodying the improvements includes a fillingtank I which is mounted for rotation about a center column. Associatedwith the tank are closely spaced measuring pockets which receive theliquid product from the tank and discharge the same into the can.

Each measuring pocket includes two telescoping members, the innertelescoping member 2 is secured by suitable bolts in alignment with anopening 3 leading to the tank. The other telescoping section 4 issupported by a spider 5 rotating in timing with the tank. The tank isshiftable relative to the spider for moving the telescoping sections ofthe measuring pocket relative to each other for varying the capacity ofthe measuring pocket. In order to provide a liquid tight joint for thetelescoping sections of the measuring pocket, the inner telescopingsection is provided with a groove in which is placed an endless packinggland, preferably of rubber.

In Figure 1a, there is shown on a large scale this packing gland at 6.The recess in the wall of the inner telescoping section is indicated atl. The packing gland projects a slight distance from the outer wall ofthe inner telescoping section and makes contact with the inner wall ofthe outer telescoping section. The line of contact is indicated at 8 inFigure 1a. This line or contact is of some width so that the jointbetween the two sections is liquid tight, and it will remain so a thereis little or no wear on this packing glanc' There is a cut-oil? platemounted in the tanl so that it remains stationary while the tankrotates. A section through the cut-oil plate is indicated at 9. Thiscut-off plate closes the upper end of the measuring pocket and said ctoil plate is provided with an arcuate groove I in its under face. Avent pipe is attached to this cut-oil plate 9 and is connected to thisgroove in the under side of the plate so that when the opening in thetank moves underneath the plate, there will be a vent connection tosupply air to the pocket and provide free discharge of the liquidproduct from the pocket into the can. This pipe, of course, while it isin the tank, extends to a point above the maximum high level of theliquid product in the tank. This arcuate groove at the under side of thecut-off plate, of course, terminates short of the ends of the plate. sothat no liquid product can pass into the groove and thus be dischargedinto the measuring pocket. The cut-ofi plate is preferably mounted sothat it floats and is held in position to cut-oif the flow of the liquidproduct into the measuring pocket by its weight.

Secured to the spider and the lower end of the telescoping section 4 isa valve housing l2. This valve housing is secured to the spider bysuitable bolts I3, I 3 so that it can be removed as a unit, if desired.The valve housing at its lower end is closed by a plate I4. There are aseries of openings l5, l5 through this plate at the lower end of thevalve housing. As shown in Figure 3, there are seven of these openings.The valve proper is indicated at l6 and is formed from a plate whichmakes very tight movable contact with the under side of the valvehousing. There is a stem ll passing through the valve plate and througha hub I8 on the inside of the plate l4. A suitable bushing i placed inthis hub so that the valve stem is free to rotate in the bushing. Thestem projects above the hub. Mounted on the stem just above the upperend of the hub is an elastic collar l8a, preferably made of rubber.

A plate 20 mounted on the stem contacts with the upper side of thiselastic collar, and there is a metal washer 2| between the collar andthe hub so as to take the wear incident to the rotation of the valve. Abolt 22 clamps this plate 20 against the elastic collar, and thiselastic c01- lar serves as a means for holding the valve plate IS inliquid tight contact with the under side of the valve housing. Thiselastic cushion does not impart any off flavor to the liquid productcontacting therewith, and inasmuch as it is of the same diameter as thehub and the plate hearing thereon, a mounting for the valve is providedLvhich can be kept clean and in sanitary condiion.

The valve plate 16 is provided with seven openings which are adapted tobe brought into alignment with the openings l5. One of these openings isindicated at 23 in Fig. 2 of the drawings. It i noted that the loweredge of the opening 23 is tapered outwardly and that there is a recesssurrounding the extreme lower edge of this tapered surface.

Discharge openings in the valve are of the type shown in detail in myprior Patent No. 2,280,614, granted April 21, 1942.

Fixed to the valve plate 96 is an arm 24. Said arm is bolted to an earprojecting laterally in the plane of the plate. Mounted on this arm is ashiftable valve actuating member 25. Said valve actuating member ipivoted to the arm and may be shifted to different set positions by ascrew 26 passing through the inner end of the valve operating member. Alock nut 21 serves to secure this screw in a set position- The valvehousing i provided with integral stop arms 28 and 29. When the valve isrotated to the position shown in Figure 3, then the openings in thevalve are out of alignment with the openings in the bottom of the valvehousing. At this time the arm 24 is substantially in contact with thestop arm 28. When the valve is rotated so as to bring thi arm 24 to aposition in contact with or near contact with the stop arm 29, then theopenings in the valve are brought into full alignment with the openingsin the bottom of the housing.

The measuring pockets are secured to the tank and rotate with the tank.A can body C is shown in Figure 1 supported on a plate 30 and movedalong said plate by a turret member 3|, which moves in timing with thetank. This turret member is provided with pockets 32 and the cans arefed into the pockets and held therein by a guide rail 33. The cans andthe measuring pockets all move as a unit during the filling thereof.Means are provided for opening the'valve during the travel of the canand measuring pocket thereabove. This means for opening the valve isshown in detail in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive.

As shown in Figure 4, the cans to be filled are fed by timing screw 33ain an upright position along guide rails into the pockets 32 of theturret 3| as the turret passes the can feeding means. The can in thepocket contacts with a shoe 3a. This shoe is pivoted at 35 and the canbearing against this shoe will swing the same in a counterclockwisedirection, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5. Normally this shoe is heldprojected over the turret pockets. as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5.and when there are cans in the pockets they will press the shoe to thefull line position where it remains as long as the pockets are filledwith cans. This movement of the shoe to the full line position shown inFig. 5 operates through a train of mechanism to position a cam rail 36in the path of movement of the valve actuating member 25. When the valvehas been shifted to full open position, the valve actuating member willpass off from the cam rail and the valve will stay in this open positionuntil it is moved by further controlling devices to a partially closedposition, and then to a fully closed position.

The shoe 34 is pivoted at 35 to a supporting plate 31, which plate 31 isadjustably attached to a frame member 38, see Fig. 4; Mounted on theframe of the machine is a bracket 39. Supported by this bracket 39 is anupright rod lll carrying a bracket 4| at the upper end thereof. Thisbracket 4| supports the cam rail 36. The cam rail 36 is fixed to an arm42'mounted on a shaft 43, which in turn is mounted for oscillation inthe upper portion of the bracket 4!. Also mounted on this shaft 43 is anarm 44 which shifts the arm 42. A spring 45 is connected to this arm 44and to the upper part of the bracket 4| and normally turns the arm 42carrying the cam rail to the dotted line position, and when this camrail is in the dotted line position, it lies below the path of travel ofthe valve operating member 25. When shifted to the full line positionshown in Fig. 7, then said cam rail will lie in the path of travel ofthis valve controlling member 25. The arm is lowered by means of thespring and it is raised by a. cam 46 carried by a shaft 41. A spring 48lies in a groove in this cam and is attached thereto so as to turn thecam ina clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig, 5. The spring at one endis attached to the cam carrying member on the shaft, and at its otherend it is anchored to a. bolt 49. The shaft 41 is journalled in thebracket 4i at the upper end and in a member 4la carried by thesupporting bracket 39 at the lower end. Attached to this shaft is acollar 50 having a laterally projecting portion, in which a pin BI ismounted. This pin is rigidly attached to a block 52 at its upper end.Extending through this block is a rod 53, the inner end of which is bentupwardly and extends into an eye 54 carried by the shoe 34. This block52' lies between nuts which are threaded on the rod 53 and the rod 1 canbe shifted endwise in the block and locked in a fixed position therein.As the .shoe moves outwardly through this rod, it will oscillate theshaft 41 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5. Thisrotation of the cam 48 in a counter-clockwise direction raises the arm42 and places the cam rail 36 in the path of the valve control member25. When there is no can in a pocket to hold this shoe in position withthe cam supporting the cam rail for operation on the valve controllingmember, then the spring 48 will rotate the cam in a clockwise directionso as to release the cam rail and permit it to drop through the actionof the spring 45 thereon. As the cam is returned, the shoe is movedinward by the rotation of the shaft 41.

From the above it will be apparent that when the pockets in the fillingmachine are supplied with cans, they operate in succession on this shoe34 and shift the cam rail into position vso that the valves will be openone after another and the liquid product discharged into the cans. Justas soon as the supply of cans give out or is stopped, so that there isno can placed in the turretof the filling machine. then this shoe may beswung inward and the cam rail releasedso that it will drop out of thepath of the control member for the valve and the valve will not beopened. In

. other words, if there is no can to be filled, then' the valve is notopened, and the liquid product will remain in the measuring pocket ofthe filling machine.

As the measuring pockets and the cans are travelling after the valve isopen, the liquid product continues to flow into the can and the valveremains fully open, until the can is nearly filled. Means isprovided-for partially closing the valve, so that the final filling ofthe can is accomplished by a plurality of dribble streams. This partialclosing of the valve for the final filling is similarly shown anddescribed in my prior patent supra.

Briefly, the mechanism for accomplishing this result is as follows: Thevalve plate l6 has a rearwardly projecting portion 55 which is proaxisof rotation of the filling machine.

this stop lug 80, the valve control member 59 will contact therewith andbe rotated to the full line position shown in Fig. 8. When in thisposition, the valve will be moved so as to partially close the openingsand reduce the fiow of liquid product into the can to dribble streams,some of which shoot directly into the can and others at an angle to thesurface of the product in the can. These dribble streams continue untilthe can is filled to the proper level, and-then the control member 59contacts with a cam member 83 which is disposed along the path of travelof the cans and the measuring pockets of the fillingmachine. This cammember 63 is carried by a shank 64 mounted in a supporting block 65adjustably carried by a supporting rail 88 which is concentric to theWhen the-control member 59 contacts with the inclined face 61 of thiscontrol cam 83, it will be rotated from the dotted line position 68 tothe full line position .69, and during this rotation of the shaftcarried by the control member 58 the valve will be moved to fully closedposition.

It is thought that the operation of the valve and the valve controllingmechanism will be obvious from the description which has already beengiven. Briefly, it may be stated that when 7 cans to be filled areplaced in the pockets of the rotating turret of the filling machinebeneath the measuring pockets, they are filled with the liquid productto be discharged into the cans, the valve will be automatically moved tofull open position. This opening of the valve is controlled by the canthrough the mechanism which has been described in detail above. Ifthere. is no can to be filled. then the valve will not be open, and noliquid will be discharged from the measuring pocket. .With the valve infull open position, the can and measuring pocket pass through their pathof travel, and when the can is nearly filled, the control member 59 willfunction through contact with the lug to partially close the openings inthe valve and thus reduce the flow of liquid to a dribble stream. Thisbrings the final fill to a proper level by easy stages and prevents anyspilling, due to the splash of the discharge of the liquid product intothe can. The amount of liquid placed in the can is determined by themeasuring pocket, which may be adjusted as to capacity so that the canwill be filled to the proper level. The valve remains open so as todischarge a dribble stream,'until the entire liquid product is drainedfrom the measuring pocket. The control valve 59 then is brought intocontact with the control cam 83 and the valve completely closed, and itwill remain in this closed position during the filling of the measuringpocket.

vided with gear teeth indicated diagrammatically at 56. Mounted on abracket carried by the valve housing is a shaft 51 which carries a gearwheel 58 meshing with the gear teeth in the segment. When this gearwheel 58 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, it will move thevalve from full open position toward a fully closed position. Mounted onthe upper end of the shaft 51 is a control member 59. When the valve is.in fully open position, this control member is in the position shown indotted line in Fig. 8.

Mounted on a rail concentric to the axis of rotation of the fillingmachine is a trip lug 80. This trip lug is mounted in a bracket 6i andis adjustable in and out by means of a micrometer 'screw 62 which holdsthe stop lug in a set position. As the travelling measuring pocketreaches After the valve is closed, the opening at the upper end of themeasuring pocket moves out from beneath the cut-off plate 9 and thepocket will fill with the liquid product. After a pocket is filled, thenthe opening leading thereto moves under the cut-off plate a so' thatfurther communication between the tank and the measuring pocket is cutoff and this communication remains cut off while the contents of themeasuring pocket is being discharged into the can. It is during thisdischarge of the contents of the measuring pocket into the can that airpasses through. the pipe I I and into the arcuate recess 10 so that themeasuring pocket is vented to permit easy and complete emptying of thesame. The measuring pocket is, of course, completely filled when itreaches the position where the empty cans are placed in the turretpockets and the controlled mechanism described above operates to openthe valve for the next cycle of filling operations.

As noted above, this cut-off plate which extends only through the arc ofthe cycle of rotation of the filling machine for the discharge of thepockets into the cans is mounted so that it floats but is held frommovement with the tank and measuring pockets. As shown in Figure 1, thecut-off plate has projecting ears 9a which engage over studs 9b carriedby a spider 90 which is mounted on the center column of the machine sothat it does not rotate. These studs keep the cut-off plate fromrotating and at the same time permit the plate to be easily removed fromthe machine for cleaning purposes. All that is necessary is to lift theplate out of the tank. When the plate is mounted so that it is held bygravity in contact with the bottom of the tank a film of the fillingproduct will form beneath this plate so that the tank will move veryfreely beneath the cut-off plate and at the same time a perfect seal ismaintained between the tank and the measuring pockets at the time of theemptying of the pockets. The pocket is completely filled when it reachesthe position where the cans are placed in the turret pockets and thecontrol mechanism described above operates to open the valve for thenext cycle of filling operation.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from the spirit of the invention,'as setforth in the appended claims,

I claim:

1. A machine for filling cans comprising a supporting frame, a tankrotatably mounted in said frame, a plurality of measuring pocketsassociated with said tank and rotating therewith, a rotatable valve atthe lower end of each measuring pocket for controlling the discharge ofthe pocket into a can, means rotating with the measuring pockets forplacing the cans to be filled beneath the pockets, an arm carried byeach valve, a control cam mounted on said frame and movable into and outof the path of travel of said arms, devices operated by the cans placedfor filling for moving said control cam into the path of travel of thevalve arms whereby the valves are moved in succession into openposition, devices associated with each valve for moving the same towardclosed position, said devices including an operating arm, a secondcontrol cam mounted on the fram and contacting with said operating armsin succession for moving the valve associated therewith to partiallyclosed position when the can is nearly filled and a third control camcontacting with said operating arms in succession for fully closing eachvalve after its measuring pocket is emptied.

2. A machine for filling cans comprising a supporting frame, a tankrotatably mounted in said frame, a pluralit of measuring pocketsassociated with said tank and rotating therewith, a rotatable valve atthe lower end of each measuring pocket for controlling the discharge ofthe pocket into a can, means rotating with the measuring pockets forplacing the cans to be filled beneath the pockets, an arm carried byeach valve, a control cam pivotally mounted on said frame, a spring formoving said control cam out of the path of travel of said arms, a liftcam for moving said control cam into the path of movement of said arms,devices operated by the cans placed for filling for moving the lift camso as to raise and hold the control cam in position for contact by saidarms whereby the valves are moved in succession into open position.

travel of the arms, a lift cam for moving said control cam into the pathof travel of the arms, a

control arm yieldingly moved into the path of travel of the cans andmeans operated by said control arm when moved outwardly by the cans foractuating the lift cam to raise the control cam.

4. A machine for filling cans comprising a supporting frame, a tankrotatably mounted in said frame, a plurality of measuring pocketsassociated with said tank and rotating therewith, a rotatable valve atthe lower end of each measuring pocket for controlling the discharge ofthe pocket into a can, means rotating with the measuring pockets forplacing the cans to be filled beneath the pockets, an arm carried. byeach valve, a control cam mounted on said frame and movable into and outof the path of travel of said arms, devices operated by the cans placedfor filling for moving said control cam into the path of travel of thevalve arms whereby the valves are moved in succession into openposition, each valve having a gear segment formed integral therewith, agear meshing with said segment, a

shaft carrying said gear and an operating arm carried by said shaft, asecond control cam mounted on the frame and contacting with saidoperating arms in succession for moving the valve associated therewithto partially closed position when the can is nearly filled and a thirdcontrol cam contacting with said operating arms in succession for fullyclosing each valve after its measuring pocket is emptied.

5. A machine for filling cans comprisin a supporting frame, a tankrotatably mounted in said frame, a plurality of measuring pocketsassociated with said tank and rotating therewith, a rotatable valve atthe lower end of each measuring pocket for controlling the discharge ofthe pocket into a can, means rotating with the measuring pockets forplacing the cans to be filled beneath the pockets, an arm carried byeach valve, 9. control cam mounted on said frame and movable into andout of the path of travel of said arms, devices operated by the cansplaced for filling for moving said control cam into the path of travelof the valve arms whereby the valves ar moved in succession into openposition, devices associated with each valve for moving the same towardclosed position, said devices including an operating arm, a secondcontrol cam mounted on the frame and contacting with said operating armsin succession for moving the valve associated therewith to partiallyclosed position when the can is nearly filled and a third control camcontacting with said operating arms in succession for fully closing eachvalve after its measuring pocket is emptied. said second control cambeing shiftable on the frame for varying the time of partially closingthe valve relative to the filling of the can.

HARRY D. AYARS.

